Are you still ordering everything online?

Flavour (sorry fucked up the quote system on my phone.)

Which is why most people use it. You know they will have it, you know it is reliable, you know it will arrive in time, and if it doesn't you can send it back hassle free. Lots of people want that reliability. In that sense it's not exactly that much difference from Windows/Apple, or even Android/Apple is it? If enough people used Linux and boycotted the others it would become the go to system and the others would be obsolete.

I think you also fail to recognise how easily all of this has slipped into out lives. Amazon, Social media, eBay, Justeat and the internet in general. I think it's only been in more recent times that these things have been exposed for what they are, and by then they had made themselves feel integral to our lives.

On top of all of this our indocteration into individualism, capitalism, consumerism, and the value of "hard work" are drilled into us from our early years and then reinforced by school and then in adult life. It will take a long time to change those views and shouting at people isn't going to work. I do think people will make changes, but they will be slow and gradual. It's too much to expect people to change everything at once.

To be honest I've had enough of shame culture. We try to constantly shame people for their individual choices, but I personally see the fucked up system we have created as being the main driver for those choices.

The use of take away food/convineance food is directly linked to our ever increasing work hours and hectic lives in my opinion. I'm not going to shame people who make those choices and demand they think of the business owners or the people who deliver their food, but I will talk about the systems that make people feel like they have to use them.

I feel that many people get more upset with people's individual choices than they do the companies themselves. Maybe that's a power thing? You can attack an individual much easier than take on a massive organisation. I'm not sure boycotting actually makes an iota of difference because the amount needed to force through change is massive. I reckon energies can be much better spent trying to make connections with workers in those sectors and building up grassroots resistance against companies and governments. That's not to say we shouldn't boycott things we don't like, but I don't think it's an answer either.

As for the death of the high street, I see this much like Proper Tidy, most people are getting fucked somewhere along the line. Landlords and lack of imagination are also a massive reason for their failure. There are some good shops for sure though and I do actually use my highstreet, but I think it's much more complicated than people just buying things online.

 

I’m really surprised it’s still under 1/5th of shopping being online. Maybe most ‘retail’ is food that people still prefer to choose themselves.

 

That’s right.

Amazon refer to us drivers as DSP’s (delivery service providers).

 

In the near 3 years I’ve been doing this delivery job, I’ve had a total of £9 in cash and a bottle of Bulmers cider in tips off customers.

Pretty shit really.

 

The person trying to make ends meet?

Boycotting amazon is great if that’s what you want to do. No one is going to say “don’t boycott amazon”... but the only thing that’s going to make bezos pay his taxes, or stop exploiting his workers, is governments forcing him to.

 

Do want you want but I Can Only Afford Amazon I Simply Have To Buy My Presents There doesn't cut it with me.

 

A lot of goods and services that people don't have the option to buy online are included in "retail" though.

Cars, hairdressers, home services ...

 

It's not the only reason why though is it?

 

Oh. I thought services was separate from retail that would explain it. Restaurants cafes etc that’s not retail is it?

 

Why are you VAT registered Marty, does Amazon make you do that or are you turning over 85k a year

 

Thing is with Amazon there are plenty of other choices out there either it buying in line or in a shop.
i repeat an earlier post would you work for them or one of their providers?

 

I buy clothes, food, groceries, DIY stuff, most furniture, toiletries, stationary and some books in stores. The rest I buy online because I’m unlikely to find it in stores or it’s cheaper.

 

Yes. Restaurants, bars, clubs, pubs, hotels ... all retail.

 

Flat rate VAT.

Only registered to claim the VAT back on my van which was £19k + VAT.

 

Ah right. Know a builder, got him to buy our boiler so we swerved the vat

 

Tell me where to get a decent go kart for an 8 plus year old that’s not too expensive and we are on.
Thankfully my mum bought him a Nintendo Switch, possibly aided by the fact we all decided to only buy for the kids this year. When he sees that Nintendo Switch my efforts will be meaningless anyway. No pressure

 

Correct however the less money he makes the less tax he avoids

 

"go kart" is so open to interpration

Secondhand-Karting.co.uk | Karts For Sale

 

Buying pretty much anything from pretty much anywhere contributes to social and environmental ills. Amazon aren't unique in that respect.
Amazon is cheap and convenient, which is why I shop there, and will continue to do so. If I had a cheaper and/or more convenient way to shop, I'd do so.
And if I decided to boycott everything and everyone that contributed to social, environmental and economic ills, I'd be living in a grass tent, eating rabbit shit.
Of course it would be nice if Amazon paid their taxes but it's not my job to make that happen.

 

Amazon are the whipping boys, the figure head. It's difficult to think of worse.
Bit like Mac's and junk food outlets.

 

They're exploiting loopholes to avoid paying tax. It's down to governments to close them, not the corporates to pay more tax than they have to.

 

They are, quite obviously, absolute cunts, but the government either don't need or don't want their money, or they'd do something about it.

 

What a weird thread.

 

If only it were just about tax.

 

If Amazon are allowed to continue at their current rate of growth and essentially become a kind of monopoly they will tweak their algorithms to ensure the unsuspecting and trusting customer end up paying more for goods - competition is healthy, monopolies aren’t.

As a few posters have already pointed out - many goods are actually cheaper elsewhere but Amazon have made it so you can get pretty much everything under one roof and made it very convenient with next day delivery, deliver to your workplace, Amazon lockers etc.

 

I have real problems with being in crowds this time of year especially. One trip to a shopping centre or cinema and I inevitably get sick... immunosuppressants just leave me vulnerable.
So I think online shopping is fantastic for someone like me. I buy groceries online and I've bought Christmas gifts online and clothes too.

 

No such thing as ethical capitalism = agreed.

Lots of small businesses dodge tax, fuck employees over, etc. = agreed.

Yet still, if you give me a choice between a world with a handful of mega-corporations run by distant billionaires who pay almost zero tax, keep their profits offshore, based in Ireland or Luxembourg or whatever for financial reasons, with their massive economies of scale and ability to bend governments to their will... or tens, hundreds of thousands of Colins and Clives with their small operation which cooks the books to stay afloat and is more likely to be caught and punished for tax avoidance, with whom employee battles are more (potentially) more easily winnable if the staff stick together, who don't time your toilet breaks and probably only make a few times what shop floor staff do rather than several thousands times what staff make... i still choose the second.

 

I think we’re having a few different conversations on here: online vs high street; consumer choices (organised or not) vs other choices; attempting to buy ethically vs. buying from Satan and waiting for “society” to sort things out etc.

 

Generally speaking what's bad about Amazon. I think you forgot slavers and environmental issues.
Thanks to alsoknownas

 

Tax avoidance, is it?